Page 3 of That Fire

When I got to Maui and Mythic’s house, I couldn’t even go in. I stood outside pacing back and forth. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why I was so angry. Aaliyah wasn’t my woman. She could sleep with whoever she wanted to, including my fucking brother. That was the nature of the game. I didn’t have a right to question her.

It wasn’t her fault that I dove in head-first. We weren’t sure if the babies were even mine, but I was making plans like they were. In my heart, I felt like they were. Maybe I wanted them to be mine. My cousins were all starting families. My sister had recently got married and had a baby. She was Aaliyah’s fucking sister-in-law.

Seven drove up, so I prepared to tell him what was going on. He wasn’t going to leave me alone until I did anyway.

The minute he got out of his SUV, he said, “Aye, what’s up wit’chu?”

I stopped pacing and closed my eyes. When I reopened them, I stared at him for a second and said, “You wanna know who the other possible father could be?”

“Who?”

“PJ.”

His eyebrows lifted. “I know you fucking lying! What the fuck?”

“Man, I wanna take Aaliyah and ring her fucking neck. PJ didn’t know we were sleeping together, just like I didn’t know they were fucking around. Aaliyah and I didn’t talk about who else we fucked, but she knows we run in the same fucking crew. I’m scared that when I see her ass again, I’m gon’ wanna fuck her up.”

My face was hot as hell, so I knew I had to be red. I felt like I wanted to explode and talking to Seven about it wasn’t helping. His temper was crazy as fuck.

“Who told you that?”

“Ryder J said PJ was talking about fucking her. When I asked her about it, she had the fucking audacity to pop off and ask me,‘Would you be upset if he was the father?’. What kind of bullshit she on? Huh?”

I started pacing again, trying to rid myself of the urge to go back to Aaliyah’s house.

“Let me go get you something to smoke, man. You can’t be bringing this energy to the wedding. Storm Henderson will fuck you all the way up. He interrupts everybody’s wedding, but I promise, if somebody try to fuck up Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, and Alice’s wedding, it’s gon’ be hell to pay.”

I rolled my eyes as he went inside to get me something to smoke from Mythic. I should have gone to my parents’ house. Dad was probably on the back deck in the clouds at this very minute. When Seven came back out, I snatched the blunt from him and lit up immediately. I slid my lighter back in my pocket and took a long ass pull.

“Chill out, man. I gotta go in here and get dressed. I’ma call Crew to come chill with you.”

I released the smoke I was holding in. “Naw. I’m finna go home. I may not be there later. I can’t be around her ass right now.”

And just like that, I’d gotten fired up all over again. My house was right next door anyway. I got into my Escalade and went to my house, pulling in the garage. After putting out my blunt, I went inside, and for some reason, I went straight to that damn nursery. I sat on the floor and just stared at the two baby beds. This shit was a waste of my money and depressing as fuck.

When my phone rang, I silenced it, not bothering to look at who was calling. I didn’t feel like talking to no damn body right now.How could she fuck PJ?It was true that I fucked Mila, everybody knew that shit, including Asad. It wasn’t like I was close to Asad. He was a good ten years older than me. That wasn’t the same as her fucking Philly. Her and Mila weren’t friends, despite her being in Asad’s life for years.

I stood and went to the bathroom to take a shower. If I didn’t go to that fucking wedding, I would never hear the end of it. Uncle Storm would make sure we all felt his wrath.Old spoiled ass nigga.He and my dad stayed into it but were best friends. I didn’t understand their dynamic. Most times, they argued just to argue.

After starting the shower, I heard my phone buzz on the countertop. I wanted to ignore that shit again, but with everything going on, I figured I had better at least check. Just as I figured, it was a text from Aaliyah. I wasn’t about to read that shit right now. I needed to put a move on it if I was going to get to the wedding on time.

Once I put on my tan suit and green shirt, I decided not to wear a tie. I just wasn’t feeling it. They had better be glad I showed up at all. I moisturized my face and goatee, then put on my jewelry. I didn’t go anywhere looking a mess, no matterhow I felt. My skin was always moisturized, and my jewelry was always on. I took my self-care and appearance seriously.

I got into my vehicle and drove to the family barn. Had it not been on a highway, I would have walked. Gas was getting too high to be driving all over Nome. Cranking the engine for these lil short distances was crazy.

When I got to the barn, Aaliyah was the first person I saw. She was sitting on a bench outside near the door. I wanted to roll my fucking eyes. I backed out and drove around to go inside through the kitchen. She was going out of her way to make me miserable.

The way her titties were on display in that dress, I would literally snatch her up and have angry sex against the side of the venue. Fighting my thoughts and desires seemed to be my biggest battle at the moment. My emotions were going haywire.

When I walked into the kitchen, I had to roll my eyes. My mama was standing at the stove, and my dad was behind her with his arms wrapped around her. Normally, I didn’t mind seeing their love, but right now it was irritating the fuck out of me. I walked past them without speaking and could hear my mama calling my name.

I ignored her and went to my seat. The wedding would be starting in a few minutes, and I wanted to be in my seat when it did. If I was out of the way, nobody would ask me to do anything. I sat in the back corner to make sure of that.

When the wedding started, I was glad it seemed to be moving quickly. Of course, I was seated on the side where Noni and Red would be. Aaliyah would be closest to them. I slightly rolled my eyes when I noticed. She walked in with Remy. Once she turned around, her eyes found mine. It seemed it didn’t matter how out of sight I tried to be.

I couldn’t even look away. Her skin was flawless. Her brown slanted eyes called me and seemed to be crying out to me. Herthick lips parted, and I couldn’t help but lick my lips as I stared at her, imagining her pointed nails digging into my skin. She may as well had been up there naked, because I was envisioning myself loving every part of her body, especially the stretch marks at her hip, going to her ass.

That thick flesh leading to her thick ass was one of my favorite parts of her. She had perfect breasts. I just wanted to suck on and toy with her nipples and watch her eyes roll to the back of her head. I was so fucking sprung off this woman. It was hard pretending I was okay without her.